Attorney General Rob Bonta announces lawsuit against St. Joseph Hospital as Eureka chiropractor Anna Nusslock looks on in this September 2024 photo (via Bonta’s X account). | Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka (file photo).

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Attorneys for both St. Joseph Health Northern California, LLC, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office continue to pursue an out-of-court settlement to the 2024 lawsuit in which the State of California accuses St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka of refusing to provide emergency abortion care to people experiencing obstetric emergencies.

Lawyers for both parties appeared briefly via Zoom this morning in Courtroom Four of the Humboldt County Courthouse. Deputy Attorney General Martine D’Agostino asked Judge Timothy Canning to schedule another status conference in 30 days, saying the two sides are “still discussing settlement.”

Harvey Rochman, who’s part of the defense team representing St. Joseph Health (SJH), indicated that an amicable resolution might not be attainable. He said, “We are hoping to get to a place where we know whether settlement is possible in the next 30 days.”

The state’s lawsuit, which has garnered nationwide media attention, alleges that SJH violated California’s Emergency Services Law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Unfair Competition Law through a religion-based policy that prohibits doctors from providing life-saving or stabilizing emergency treatment when doing so would terminate a pregnancy, even if that pregnancy is not viable. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office has been seeking a preliminary injunction that would compel SJH to comply with California’s Emergency Services Law (ESL) by providing legally mandated emergency medical care. 

The lawsuit focuses in part on the case of Eureka chiropractor Anna Nusslock, who, in 2024, was allegedly denied a medically necessary abortion at St. Joseph Hospital despite an immediate threat to her life and health and the fact her pregnancy was no longer viable.

Defense attorneys have argued that Nusslock didn’t actually experience medical emergencies while in the hospital’s care. They also argue that the injunction being sought by the state would force the hospital to perform elective abortions, which are forbidden by the Catholic religion. (St. Joseph Northern California is owned by the Catholic nonprofit Providence-St. Joseph).

See the links below for more background on the case. The next status conference is scheduled for June 22 at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom Four.

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